Amid destruction and great suffering, Christians in Aleppo met for Ash Wednesday, thus beginning a period of prayer and penance. On the first Friday of Lent, displaced people and refugees sheltered in Aleppo's St. Francis Parish prayed the Stations of the Cross. "It is a very intense and challenging experience but also rich in the presence of the Lord, who acts in all these people." Br. Jonnhy Jallouf - a Franciscan friar from the Custody of the Holy Land - tells how in Syria "some people are afraid to return home because there are still aftershocks and there are several houses damaged or destroyed. I could tell about the great deal of suffering there, but also about the testimonies of faith and hope that we receive from young people." Br KHOKAZ IOHANNA MESROB Assistant priest of St. Francis Latin Church in Aleppo "On Friday despite the fact that the church is half unusable because of the damage to the dome it suffered during the earthquake, and now in danger of falling, people filled the rest of the church and participated in the Stations of the Cross. We pray and hope that this time of Lent will help us in our suffering to be close to Christ and that we can receive consolation from him so that we can experience the Resurrection "together."" In Jerusalem as every Friday, pilgrims from all over the world participated in the Stations of the Cross, together with Franciscans, walking the Via Dolorosa to the Holy Sepulcher. The first Saturday of Lent opened with the traditional solemn entrance of the Patriarch of Latins, Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. The entrance was followed by the ritual sung procession that from the Chapel of the Apparition of the Risen One followed the traditional route that Franciscans have been taking daily inside the Basilica since as far back as 1336. On the night between Saturday and Sunday, Franciscans gathered at the Holy Sepulcher for the solemn Office of Readings and vigil Mass presided over by Brother Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land. This is a tradition that has been repeated since at least 1754 on the Sundays of Lent, from the first until the Palm Sunday. According to the Status Quo, the Office of Readings is celebrated with the three Old Testament canticles in the Chapel of the Apparition. A special feature of this special vigil liturgy is the procession around the Edicule of the Holy Sepulcher. Texts and rites highlight the Paschal character of the vigil celebration that culminates in the proclamation of the Gospel of the Resurrection. In the middle of the night and at the end of the Office of Readings, Father Custos celebrated Sunday Mass at the Crucifixion Chapel on Calvary.